It didn't take long before Charlie finished giving the youngest kids a stern lecture.

"...now do you see what happens when you jump to conclusions and not have any facts?" Charlie finished.

"Yes sir..." said the kids.

"Now go apologize to Mrs. Ickly's son!" Charlie ordered. "As a wise man once said, better safe than sorry."

"Sure thing, Dad..." The kids grumbled before they turned and left to find I.Q.

Charlie then turned to the older kids as they gathered together with several questions in mind.

"Pop! We need to ask you something!" said Henry. "Has the advisor come back?"

"No I don't think he has." said Charlie. "Why?"

"I believe he was involved in the prince's disappearance." Tinker said.

"What makes you say that?" asked Charlie. "Do you have any proof?"

"No." Tinker admitted. "But how else would you explain the royal advisor's absence?"

"I assumed he was with the prince's parents." Charlie said.

"But isn't the prince the only one in the royal family that is on this visit?" Mark asked.

"Yeah, I thought the king and queen are back in their country." Debbie added.

"So do I, but he told me earlier that he was going to see them." Charlie told them. "He didn't specify where."

"Do any of the other royal council members know about this?" asked Stanley.

"I don't know." said Charlie. "We'd better consult them."

"Then, we better go find the other members of the royal council." Henry suggested.

While they went to see the other members, the kids walked over to I.Q. to apologize.

I.Q. was wiping the windshield of his race car when he looked up and saw the youngest Chan siblings walking towards him.

"Oh, it's you again..." He said bitterly. "What are you gonna do now? Draw on my face?"

"No." Scooter shook his head.

"Then what are you guys here for?" I.Q. asked as he folded his arms. "Asking me about the missing prince again?"

"I.Q, we're really sorry for how we treated you." said Flip.

"Yeah, we didn't mean any harm." Nancy added.

"I guess we really lost our heads in trying to solve the mystery." Mimi said. "Can you find in your geeky genius heart to forgive us?"

I.Q. narrowed his eyes.

"Oh alright..." He groaned. "I forgive you. But only because my mother doesn't want me holding a grudge before the race."

"Oh thank you, I.Q! We'll never be mean to you again!" Mimi said before giving I.Q. a quick kiss on the lips.

The moment she finished the kiss, I.Q. groaned again as he rushed over to wash his face.

"At least we now have that out of the way." Nancy said as they watched I.Q. wash his face. "Now let's go join Pop and the others."

At that same time, Charlie and the others met up with the royal council.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Mr. Chan." said the royal record keeper. "The king and queen are still on their way to the island. They're not supposed to land for hours."

"Then, I have reason to believe that the royal advisor is responsible for the disappearance." Charlie said.

"What do you mean?" The record keeper raised an eyebrow.

Charlie handed him the note. "Maybe this will answer your question..."

The royal records keeper put on his reading glasses before taking a look at the note.

As soon as he finished reading, he said one thing, "Get in the limo."

The royal council and the Chan Clan headed into the limo and drove right to the police station. Henry and Stanley went with their friends in Speedy.


Soon, at the police station, the group met up with each other.

"Rosemary! Is Sgt. Flint here? I need to speak with him!" Charlie said in a panic.

"Sure Charlie, he's in his office." Rosemary said as she typed on her computer. "Just wait over there and I'll call him."

"There is no time! This is an international crisis!" said the royal record keeper.

Rosemary paused her lips as she reached to the phone and dialed a number before placing the earpiece in the phone's handset by her ear.

"Sarge, please come to front desk, it's a Code 456." She said as she spoke into the headset.

There was a brief pause from the other end, and then the sergeant drew in a breath.

"I'll be right over." He responded.

In just a millisecond, he arrived with several of his best officers.

"Alright Chan, what is it?!" Flint sternly demanded.

"It is our belief that the prince's disappearance was an inside job by someone within the royal council." Charlie said as the record keeper nodded in agreement.

"Inside job, huh?" Flint raised an eyebrow. "And what makes you all think this to be the case?"

"First, take a look at this note that was found at the Chan residence." The record keeper said as he handed Flint the note.

Flint read the note. "Yeah...yep...I see...but how do you know this note is real? It could be a forgery, a practical joke!"

"Exactly." The record keeper nodded.

"I am not sure, but I think we may have a chance of finding the prince there." said Charlie.

"Well, in that case, you guys should get moving before the prince gets harmed." Flint said.

Charlie turned to the kids. "Kids, you'd better go home. It's not safe out here. Stay inside at all costs until we get back."

"Uh...what?" Tinker asked.

"I believe my father said that we should go home." Henry said.

"I know he means that we should go home." Tinker said. "But why?"

"He thinks it could too dangerous, Tinker." Mark said. "And frankly, I actually agree with him. We don't know anything about stopping crooks or rescuing royalty. Maybe we should just stay at Henry and Stanley's place until the heat dies down."

"Yeah, okay then." Tinker shrugged.

The kids then all went home while the adults headed to the address on the note.


It didn't take long for the adults to arrive at the address on the note.

"You sure this is the place?" Flint asked Charlie.

Charlie looked at the ransom note. "Yes. This is the place."

"Then, let's move in." Flint said. "The prince could be in great danger."

"Couldn't have said it better myself." Charlie nodded as they got off the car.

They both got out of the car as the other cars surrounded the place.

"Kidnapper! Come out with your hands up!" Flint spoke into a megaphone. "We have the place surrounded! Surrender the prince at once!"

As Flint spoke into the megaphone, several police officers accompanying the trio emerged from their vehicles with their weapons drawn.

There was much silence as they waited.

"It's too quiet in there." Flint whispered.

"Yeah." Charlie nodded. "One of these instances of a calm before the storm."

Just then, the authorities heard some noise coming from inside the building.

"Hold your aim, men, someone's coming..." Flint whispered.

The steps got louder, until someone finally came at the door.

The officers all gripped their weapons as the door opened.

"Show yourself!" One of the officers barked.

The door slowly opened to reveal none other than...

"Lord Benson!" Charlie exclaimed. I should've guessed!"

"Who on Earth is that?" Flint asked Charlie.

"The royal councilman." said Charlie.

Seeing the record keeper accompanying the officers, Lord Benson raised his hands as he said, "This isn't what it looks like!"

"Oh, is that right?" The record keeper narrowed his eyes. "Where is His Royal Highness, Cyrus?"

"He's inside, but I must warn you, it is not a pretty sight!" said Benson.

"I don't care if it's all sunshine and rainbows!" Flint barked. "You'd better hand over that prince or else!"

"What did you do to him?" The record keeper demanded as the officers moved in.

"I have done nothing, but this guy has, it's someone you know rather well..." said Benson.

Cyrus snapped his fingers and there was the royal advisor with the prince all tied up and gagged.

"The royal advisor! I knew it!" Charlie exclaimed.

"Au contrare, Mr. Chan, he is not the royal advisor, he works for me." Cyrus corrected Benson.

"What are you talking about?" asked Flint.

"Yeah, can you tell us what on earth is going on here?!" Charlie added.

"Don't you get it, you idiot?!" snapped Benson. "I kidnapped the royal advisor and disguised this guy as him to give me information on all of you so I could get to the prince and cause an international crisis! Thereby, plunging the royal family and all royal families into chaos!"

"But why did you do it, sir?" asked the record keeper. "What did we ever do to you?"

"Let's just say that the recent reforms initiated by the king were nothing other than a political witch hunt meant to shut us down." Benson replied nonchalantly. "Those reforms were taking money out of my pocket and are hurting the oil and gas industries of which several others and I have received donations from, and I simply cannot allow the king to get away with it."

"Those 'donations' you speak of were nothing other than funds for questionable research to discredit those engaged in the fight against climate change." The record keeper snapped. "You of all people should know that climate change is going to severely impact our way of life, not to mention that we still have a lot of poverty in the country."

"You had better hand over the prince, because you are going to spend the rest of your life behind bars!" Charlie sternly said.

"I'll hand over the prince, as soon as the king and queen come here to meet my demands!" Benson barked.

"Then, you're going to be disappointed." Flint responded.

"How so?" Benson asked.

"Cause they're not coming for hours, but you are outta here!" Flint said as he took out a walkie talkie. "Get him boys!"

Outside, some police copters hovered above the building with some other cop cars surrounding the place.

"Put your hands up in the air where we can see 'em!" One of the cops shouted as they all readied their weapons.

Benson and his goon put their hands up and the cops then arrested them.

"I would've gotten away with it, if it wasn't for that pig, Charlie Chan!" Benson growled. "I'll get you punk!"

"Yeah, I'm sure you'll be coming for me soon." Charlie said nonchalantly. "Take 'em away, boys!"

The cops then took Cyrus and his accomplice to jail.

Charlie then untied the prince. "Well, now that the prince is safe, we can finally do the race."


The very next day, the race finally went on as planned. Charlie and his kids were sitting in the V.I.P seats with the royal family.

"I wonder how are our brothers gonna fare in the race." Suzie remarked.

"Well, there is only one more lap left in the race, and it would seem that the Icklys and Speedy are both the fastest ones out of all three." Tom said. "It could be one or the other."

Down at the race track, Dastardly and Mutterly were finding themselves to be having significant trouble catching up with Speedy and I.Q.

"We'll never catch up to those guys in time!" Dastardly growled. "Muttley! Activate the rockets!"

Muttley snickered and pressed a big red button on the control panel, which caused some large booster rockets to emerge from the sides of the Mean Machine, making them go right ahead of the other racers.

Speedy was comfortably speeding ahead of I.Q. when the rocket zoomed by.

"You're doing amazing Speedy, now increase velocity so we can win that trophy!" Mark told the car.

"Sp-sp-sp-Sooner done than said!" Speedy said as he increased his velocity and caught up to the Mean Machine.

"Mother! We're dead last!" I.Q. gasped. "Quick! Activate the turbo boosters!"

"Of course, dear." Ivana said as she pressed the button. "Don't want my dear boy to end up dead last in this race, especially when the Mean Machine is piloted by someone that doesn't have sportsmanship!"

Ivana then pressed a red button on the control panel and they zoomed right towards the other racers.

In the booths, the announcers were more than overcome with excitement for the results.

"Oh my goodness! The racers are neck to neck to neck, and with only one turn to go!" said Segal.

"Hot diggety!" Bob cheered. "These cars look like they are in danger of exploding if they got too close each other. Normally, I would be concerned, but I'm too excited to even care! Who's gonna win?"

With the camera zoomed onto Speedy, Bob asked, "Is it going to be Speed Buggy?"

The scene then shifted to I.Q. and his mother before Bob added, "Or is it going to be I.Q.?"

And finally, with the scene shifted to the Mean Machine, Bob continued, "Or is it going to be the Mean Machine?"

"We're almost there, mother!" I.Q. pointed to the impending finish line. "We're going to win at last!"

"Speedy, you gotta accelerate more!" Mark said to his car. "We are almost at the finish line!"

Dastardly growled. "I am not going to lose to some corrosive Cooper and a pint-sized pipsqueak! Muttley! We are going to play dirty!"

Muttley snickered again as Dastardly jerked the steering wheel to the right, intending to bump right into Speedy and I.Q.

However, the two racers had anticipated the Mean Machine to make such a move, and the drivers slammed on their brakes, leading to the Mean Machine to swerve out of the track and crash into the nearby wall.

"Muttley this is all your fault!" Dastardly shouted as he bonked Muttley on the head.

Just then, the Mean Machine blew up, causing the two racers flew into the air and landed right on the Gravitron. This caused the car to land right onto Speed Buggy and all of a sudden, there was a huge explosion.

The crowd all flinched as the three vehicles blew up right before their eyes.

"Boys!" Charlie gasped in fear.


Auhtor's Note:

Jeepers! That got dark real quick! What of the racers? Are they okay? Who will win? Stay tuned for the exciting conclusion!